The Chinese city of Xi’an has donated 20,500 PPE items to the University of Liverpool’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Campaign.
The Emergency Response Campaign is raising funds to support the University’s world-leading and transformational COVID-19 research, as well as assisting the NHS through equipment donations.
Representatives from Xi’an heard about the campaign through Liverpool’s Deputy Mayor Cllr Gary Millar – who recently signed an official friendship agreement between the two cities – and wanted to help.
They have sent 20,000 masks and 500 items of protective clothing, which the University will distribute to NHS trusts through Liverpool’s donation hub.
Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Confucius Institute Board Member and President of the Liverpool China Partnership Councillor Gary Millar said: “On behalf of the City of Liverpool I take this opportunity to express our most sincere gratitude to the home of the Terracotta Warriors for this generous donation. At a critical moment when Liverpool combats COVID-19, we thank Xi’an for not only this support, but also for helping strengthen our courage to fight the epidemic. It is also a good interpretation of the official friendship between our two great cities.”
Qiang Sheng, Director of Foreign Affairs Office, Xi’an Municipal Government said: “When I learned of the serious pandemic situation started in the UK, we could empathise as we were suffering too. Here in Xi’an we immediately prepared a bunch of PPE to be sent over to support our friends in Liverpool, to help Liverpool and British people to fight against the virus and achieve our common objectives.
“The people in Xi’an and Liverpool are nice and kind, and share a lot in common; there is also huge potential for both cities working together in business and industrial sectors, especially with regards to the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.”
Tim Jiao, UK representative of Xi’an Foreign Affairs Office said: “Mutual support between colleagues from the cities of Xi’an and Liverpool, whether for business communication or fighting against the COVID-19 virus, has strengthened the connections of people living and working in those two great cultural and education hubs of different ends of the Silk Road. I am proud to be part of this Xi’an-Liverpool friendship initiative, especially through helping to donate PPE to the most vulnerable, and I will carry on working to develop this UK-China and Xi’an-Liverpool friend community.”
Professor Dame Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Liverpool said: “At the University of Liverpool we are extremely grateful to our friends in the city of Xi’an for this generous donation of PPE items. This equipment will help us, through our Emergency Response Campaign, to support the NHS as it rises to the challenges of COVID-19. We look forward, with our partners in the city, to strengthening Liverpool’s connection with Xi’an in the future.”